The municipal elections are being conducted in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, and Jamnagar in Gujarat. This would provide an indication of where the BJP stands before the Gujarat state assembly polls which are due next year. The overall voter turnout in polling across six municipalities across Gujarat stood at 22.54% till (2pm) afternoon. The highest turnout of 25 percent was recorded in Jamnagar till 2 pm while the lowest, 16.2 percent, was recorded in Ahmedabad.

Voting began at 7 am on Sunday and is expected to wrap by 5 pm. It is being held amid strict security and Covid-19 protocols.

Polling is taking place for a total of 575 seats with each ward having four corporators, and 2,276 candidates. Among the candidates are 577 from the BJP, 566 from Congress, 470 from AAP, 91 from NCP, 353 from other parties, and 228 Independents.

A total of 444 candidates from other parties, including 91 from NCP, are also in the fray along with 228 independents. AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi will make its local body-poll debut having fielded 21 candidates in six wards in Ahmedabad.

More than 43,000 police personnel have been deployed for the civic polls. The deployment included 25,000 personnel from regular units, 15,000 home guards, and 3,000 from the state reserve police force (SRPF).

Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with his family members cast his vote at Naranpura Sub Zonal Office in Ahmedabad.

“The total number of voters in the six cities stands at 1.14 crore, comprising 60.60 lakh men and 54.06 lakh women. Of the 11,121 polling booths, 2,255 are sensitive and 1,188 have been designated as very sensitive,” a poll official was quoted as saying by PTI.

The counting of votes will be conducted on February 23, following which, on February 28, polls to 31 district and 231 taluka panchayats, as well as 81 municipalities will be held, he added.